Our stories

Building a just society means elevating everyone by supporting all people to reach their full potential. Every success story is crucial because none of us can flourish, until we all do.

Jesuit Social Services staff explore how nature-based therapy can enhance their practice
- 1 June 2023
On a rainy morning in a patch of Kew bushland, Jesuit Social Services staff gathered to learn about nature-based therapeutic practice and the ways it can enhance their work with participants, and improve their own wellbeing.
An ‘open-door’, place-based approach for First Nations people
- 31 May 2023
Recently, Jesuit Social Services’ Centre for Just Places, our hub for place-based action, research and advocacy, was commissioned by the Victorian government to investigate what makes some place-based approaches so effective. Our team, alongside partners RMIT University, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and the University of Queensland, explored existing literature and practice, publishing a research…
Engineering expertise moves the Hub’s community plastics recycling project forward
- 31 May 2023
Three engineering students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Massachusetts, USA, have wrapped up seven weeks at Jesuit Social Services’ Ecological Justice Hub in Melbourne, where they developed a process and workshops for recycling plastic bottle caps using the Hub’s new recycling equipment.
First Peoples Assembly informs Jesuit Social Services staff on the Victorian Treaty process
- 17 May 2023
In line with our vision of building a just society, Jesuit Social Services strongly supports the Victorian Treaty process. Recently, Jesuit Social Services asked First Peoples Assembly of Victoria to deliver an information session on Victoria’s Treaty process to staff. At Jesuit Social Services we work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people throughout Victoria,…
Garden Pathway a breath of fresh air for participants
- 1 May 2023
Garden Pathway program trainer, Carol, has observed the impact growing food can have on people. “From the very first day running the Garden Pathway course, I noticed that everyone leaves the garden in a better state than when they arrived. And I’ve even had some participants get emotional on their final day, because they’re going…
Centre for Just Places collaborates with local council to strengthen disability inclusive emergency planning
- 5 December 2022
Under Australia’s new Disability Strategy 2021-31, all governments, as well as community organisations and businesses, are required to include people with disability in their emergency management and disaster response and recovery planning. The risk for people with disability is even higher for those experiencing intersecting issues limiting their capacity to respond during a disaster, such as financial…
A call for collaborative action on climate justice in Melbourne’s west
- 29 November 2022
The co-designed Plan is the result of a year-long project which brought together over 44 community health and service organisations and local stakeholders to identify where community health and service organisations and communities are currently connected, what is needed to strengthen those connections, and collaboration and action required to support community members at greatest risk…
Newly-arrived families grow their engagement with First Nations culture at Homework Club event
- 28 September 2022
Recently, close to sixty students and family members from Jesuit Social Services’ Settlement Program and Flemington Homework Club, gathered on Wurundjeri land to experience a Welcome to Country and play bush bingo and a scavenger hunt activity with an Indigenous lens.
Mobilising climate just and resilient communities in the west
- 9 June 2022
More than 30 representatives from state health, environment and utility agencies, local governments, health and community service organisations in Melbourne’s west gathered recently to identify shared priorities to mobilise climate justice...
Trust and relationships at the heart of the Hub
- 2 June 2022
Jesuit Social Services’ Dropping off the Edge research into locational disadvantage, conducted over more than 20 years, finds that many communities in Western Sydney deal with multiple and complex forms of disadvantage.